Shelters support women & children fleeing violence.
We support the shelters.
In 2009, drawn together by a shared vision to end violence against women, the provincial and territorial shelter associations began giving shape to Women’s Shelters Canada (formerly the Canadian Network of Women’s Shelters & Transition Houses).
Together, we have become a national, collaborative voice for change.
Our Vision
Women and trans, Two-Spirit, and non-binary people, and their children, live free from intimate partner and gender-based violence, with safety, dignity, and equity at the centre of their lives.
Our Mission
Women’s Shelters Canada is the national sectoral voice on intimate partner and gender-based violence in Canada. We connect organizations, co-create knowledge, and advocate for the policies, resources, and relationships that make safety and equity possible.
Ways of Being and Working
Our Ways of Being and Working are the commitments that guide how we show up in our work, in our relationships, and in our movement. They turn values into practice and ensure that WSC leads with integrity, care, and courage.
Centred on Survivors
As part of an intersectional feminist human rights movement, we ground every decision in the realities and voices of those most impacted by intimate partner and gender-based violence. Their safety, dignity, and leadership shape how we work.
Solidarity in Action
We move collectively, honouring the diversity of shelters, communities, and movements we work alongside. Collaboration is our strength and our practice.
Equity & Intersectionality
We confront all systems of oppression and centre those most marginalized in our strategies, advocacy, and leadership. Ending intimate partner and gender-based violence requires a gender justice perspective that addresses its social determinants, including misogyny and patriarchy, which intersect and are compounded by racism, colonialism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, transmisogyny, classism, and ageism.
Responsibility & the
Courage to Transform
We act on the deep belief that the women’s shelter movement has a responsibility to play a critical leadership role municipally, provincially and territorially, nationally, and globally in ending intimate partner and gender-based violence. We are willing to challenge the status quo, in ourselves, our sector, and our country, to create a future free of violence.
Resources & Sustainability
We assert that shelters, transition houses, and other supports for women, trans, Two-Spirit, and non-binary people who have experienced violence are essential launch pads to safety, agency, and thriving, and therefore must be fully and equitably resourced across all jurisdictions. We prioritize long-term transformation over short-term fixes, ensuring our work builds enduring safety and equity for generations to come.
Care as a Practice
We care for each other as we care for the movement, recognizing that collective well-being and sustainability are essential to the work of justice.